Franklin Power for Your Aircraft - A User's Perspective

Chuck Firth

Originally published February 1996

Ron Campbell. a private pilot and CAP squadron commander out of
Cable Airport, presented our main program. Ron is the owner of
a Cessna 175 (no topo) Skylark with a 220 hp Franklin up front.
Franklin engines, not the C175, provided the topic for the evening.
Ron was at the meeting to describe his personal experience with
Franklin engines and to discuss their return to the market for
general aviation.

Ron has been a part of general aviation since his childhood. His
father was a mail pilot in the '30s and later ran an FBO at Brackett
in the '50s and '60s. Along the way he picked up the C175. then
mounted with a 0-300 and gear box. A need to change out the engine
got him looking at the market and it was dunng his search he found
that Franklin had built firewall-forward kits for the Cessna Bulldog
military aircraft. Unfortunately for Franklin. but fortunately
for Ron, the kits went unused M hen the government chose a competitor's
offering. What he got uas a 220 hp, 350 cu in, six-cylinder engine
with a 10:1 compression ratio, weighing in only about 35 lbs more
than a 200 hp four-cylinder engine. He also got it cheap, which
most of us can appreciate.

The Franklin has proved a reliable engine for Ron and has gotten
him a reputation as something of a hotdog around Cable. The 220
hp up front provides excellent performance, particularly in high
density altitude conditions. It's also smooth running and has
a very distinctive sound. The rep comes from the fact that the
tips on his prop (small hub MacCauley CSP) go sonic at high rpm.
Nothing like a little prop noise and 1500-2000 fpm climb to impress
the locals. It also burns only about 10.5 gph at 120+ knots, similar
to a C182 without the weight and fuel consumption.

From the brochure on the six-cylinder: bore and stroke, 4.625
x 3.5; fuel octane, 100; ignition, dual shielded magneto; dry
weight, 367 Ibs. including drives and accessories; and approved
for continuous operation at full throttle. Additionally, the fit
is only about 7/12" longer than a four-cylinder 180 or 200
hp, and the engine can be modified for inverted systems for those
of you interested in that attitude. And, according to Ron, the
engine can be turbo charged at a 7:1 compression ratio. Ron believes
none have been modified for fuel injection yet. About 1400 hours
TBO is advertised as well.

Man} are familiar with the decline of Franklin in the late early
'80s and the poor support for engines in the field. This changed
when PZL of Poland took over the original tooling for Franklin
engines and American distributors began importing their products.
Ron brought in brochures from Aerocenter, an aircraft supplies,
avionics, and maintenance operation in Puyallup Washington that
imports directly from PZL. (Brochures are available in the TPS
library for too, four, and six-cwlinder engines.) Prices for the
six-cylinder and four-cylinder as of January 15, 1996, are $15,820
and $11,220 complete (you might want to call about what that means),
respectively. If you're interested. call and ask for Bill Morris,
(800) 331-4375.

URL: http://www.eaa1000.av.org/progsumm/feb96/franklin.htm
Contents of The Leading Edge and these web pages are the viewpoints
of the authors. No claim is made and no liability is assumed,
expressed or implied as to the technical accuracy or safety of
the material presented. The viewpoints expressed are not necessarily
those of Chapter 1000 or the Experimental Aircraft Association.
Revised -- 22 February 1997